Little Alchemy 2 – Combinations and Humor

Little Alchemy 2 is a mobile app version of the frequently done genre of flash games wherein you combine different elements and materials to make new materials and eventually get them all.

Playing to the same style of completionism that games like Pokemon inspired, Little Alchemy 2 is all about trying to collect all the possible permutations available by combining different base elements.

To start with, you get the classical four elements: air, water, fire and earth. Combining the elements with each other gives a variety of different possible results. Combining water and fire, for example, gives you steam. Earth and fire gives you brick, which can then be combined again and again to make a wall, a house and eventually a village.

Each new creation discovered by you is kept in the encyclopedia, with the ultimate aim of completing the collection and finally discovering them all.

Each new creation discovered by you is kept in the encyclopedia, with the ultimate aim of completing the collection and finally discovering them all.

The gameplay is simplistic and the ascetic matches this – there’s nothing to the game other than the different materials you’ve discovered down one side and the experimentation area on the other. You can explore the encyclopedia and buy hints with money – of course – but, other than that, the game is what you make of it.

Games of this type – and Little Alchemy 2 is no different – are interesting in that the true enjoyment comes from not playing as methodically or intelligently as possible. The only logical way to play combining games such as these is to systematically combine each material with every other material as soon as it’s discovered. Working through each possible creation and keeping a detailed list ensures that you will eventually, in the fastest way possible, achieve all the creations.

This is also exceptionally boring. The actual fun way to play these games is to combine things you think will be funny or might work and see what kind of thing it creates.

Little Alchemy 2 could only work as an actual game if it kept the quality that many other combining games possess; sheer comedy. Thankfully, Little Alchemy 2 follows suit and ensures that each different material comes with its own description that is usually witty at best, and punny at worst.

Because of the existence of these little snippets of humor, the player can content themselves hunting down each item for the sake of each joke.

Because of the existence of these little snippets of humor, the player can content themselves hunting down each item for the sake of each joke.

This is made better by having some permutations and combinations be funny. Playing any game like this, Little Alchemy 2 included, is a race to keep the player entertained and interested to try and discover as many materials as possible and keep them playing as long as possible.

Little Alchemy 2 isn’t exceptionally unique in its gameplay style, nor does it bring anything to the table that is inherently different from other games of the same genre.

However, its humor is top quality and it becomes paramount to find as many creations as possible so as to keep laughing. Played this way, Little Alchemy 2 is engaging and entertaining, though it could be easy to get gradually bored as each evolution becomes more and difficult to find due to the sheer number of possible things it could combine with.